'Loophole' could pave way for mixed martial arts (MMA) event in New York 'in 2 weeks

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'Loophole' could pave way for mixed martial arts (MMA) event in New York 'in 2 weeks

UFC scored a big win today in a Manhattan federal courtroom, agreeing with the state of New York attorney general that it could stage a mixed martial arts (MMA) event in as quickly as two weeks through a sanctioned third-party partner. In addition, a federal judge ordered Zuffa and the state of New York to settle their long-standing battle, which could set the stage for full-fledged legalization in the near future.

According to Jim Genia, a New York City-based MMA reporter, the Zuffa legal machine may have finally broken through, exploiting a legal "loophole" that would enable a third-party to sanction an MMA event.

Notable UFC/MMA fighters such as Jon Jones, Gina Carano, Frankie Edgar, Matt Hamill and Brian Stann were listed alongside Zuffa as plaintiffs in a lawsuit pending against the State of New York in Manhattan Federal Court related to New York's ban on MMA.

To read the amended complaint in full, which was today presented before Judge Kimba Wood of the United States District Court, click http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/21..._Complaint.pdf. The 178-page document is outrageously comprehensive, complete with just about everything one could -- and couldn't imagine -- as it relates to the sport, as well as the state's 1997 law.

Money well spent if means UFC can backdoor its way into staging an event with a little third-party assistance. Genia pointed out that UFC would most likely have to partner with an organization such as World Kickboxing Academy (WKA), which was grandfathered into the 1997 law, to get one of its shows greenlit.

However, rest assured the "scumbags" in the Culinary Union will likely go out on their cutting boards in an effort to get it stamped out and/or stall that possibility.

In the meantime, the move by White and Co. to book a date at Madison Square Garden back in Dec. 2012 (read more on that here) for a truly historic MMA event in Nov. 2013 is now looking rather brilliant. So, too, does the immediate rematch that Chris Weidman granted Anderson Silva after he defeats the "Spider" on Fourth of July weekend.

This is not an all-out repeal, meaning that hurdles still exist to get MMA legalized in New York.

Awesome. Hopefully at least 1 event does happen. Hopefully it brings in a LOT of money. And hopefully nothing negative occurs inside or outside the cage, between fighters or fans. Realistically, that's the only way I could see MMA actually getting fully legalized. If they have a single thing to bitch about, it'll be another 10+ years before they give it another chance.

I'm going to cross my fingers, but the culinary union and vested politicians have shown to be resilient and creative. I don't fully understand the "third-party" sanctioning, but my guess is they would look to utilize the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board as a proxy.

It might cost Zuffa tons of cash to orchestrate their first NY event, but I think that would be an investment towards breaking the opposition and attaining outright legalization.

Both Chris Weidman and Jon Jones have alluded to an event in NY this year, and I'm hearing rumors that Zuffa has tentatively booked MSG for a November event.

I'm going to cross my fingers, but the culinary union and vested politicians have shown to be resilient and creative. I don't fully understand the "third-party" sanctioning, but my guess is they would look to utilize the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board as a proxy.

It might cost Zuffa tons of cash to orchestrate their first NY event, but I think that would be an investment towards breaking the opposition and attaining outright legalization.

Both Chris Weidman and Jon Jones have alluded to an event in NY this year, and I'm hearing rumors that Zuffa has tentatively booked MSG for a November event.

I think it's more along the lines of a co-sponsored event with a NYS legal combat sport organization, rather than just working with another athletic commission. Where they'd likely have some kind of boxing or kickboxing fights in the prelim cards (or main card). I'm sure they'd try and bring along another MMA legit athletic commission as well though, simply to make the card legit by U.S. MMA standards/unified rules. At least that's what I've gathered from the article, so I could be completely wrong.

I absolutely agree. The UFC would be dumb not to consider an event that lost a little bit of money, especially if it meant taking a huge step to legalization. NYS is a big market for MMA. They already allow amateur MMA, in certain respects, as well as it taking place in Native American casinos (without unified rules regulations). Cities like NYC (obviously bigger than all others in NY & potentially the rest of the country [except for Vegas]), Buffalo, Rochester, & Syracuse (fuck yeah!) would sell out their biggest places every time.

This is why they haven't announced Silva/Weidman yet. This is why the UFC is hoping against hope that Hendricks get's beat by Ellenberger. This is why Dana White is wishing on a star GSP destroys Diaz.